A new Tertiary sill complex of mid-ocean ridge basalt type NNE of the Shetland Isles: a preliminary report
ABSTRACT Basic intrusive rocks recently encountered in wells N and NNE of the Shetland Isles are probably parts of a single large sill complex which extends for over 130 km along the edge of the Faeroe-Shetland Trough. The sills intrude thick Mesozoic sediments which almost certainly overlie contine...
| Published in: | Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1986
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0263593300010853 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0263593300010853 |
| Summary: | ABSTRACT Basic intrusive rocks recently encountered in wells N and NNE of the Shetland Isles are probably parts of a single large sill complex which extends for over 130 km along the edge of the Faeroe-Shetland Trough. The sills intrude thick Mesozoic sediments which almost certainly overlie continental crust but the complex also appears to underlie, and extend beyond the SE edge of, the Faeroes basaltic lava plateau. Petrographic and geochemical analyses of drill core samples recovered from some of these sills reveal that they are of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) type; an observation which provides evidence regarding the plate tectonic history of this area of the North Atlantic and has major implications for the nature of the continental/oceanic crust transition. |
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